KMP to miss March 31 deadline, will need another month and half to complete

GURUGRAM: The Kundli to Manesar stretch of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway (KMP) also known as Western Peripheral Expressway, is likely to miss its March deadline, as almost 30% of the work is yet to be done, said sources in the know. The chief minister had earlier announced that the project would be launched in March.
On Sunday morning, when TOI visited the road near Manesar, work on the Pachgaon Chowk flyover was under way, with carpeting of the surface still left. Workers on site said this work is likely to take at least a month and a half more to complete. “There is substantial amount of work pending in terms of intersections and drains along the expressway. A good part of the road is still kuccha and requires carpeting,” said a source.

Officials of HSIIDC, the agency carrying out the project, said the levelling of the carriageway, which takes up the most time, is complete. The rest of the work is likely to be complete within the next month and half. “There are a few things pending, but we’re expecting the project to be completed within the next month and a half,” said a HSIIDC official, requesting anonymity. He accepted that there is significant work left in building the drainage along the road. There are 292 drainage points designed across the length of the highway.

KMP expressway stretches over 135.6km, cutting across four national highways — NH-1, NH-2, NH-8 and NH-10. There are 52 underpasses and 23 overpasses in this project. Additionally, there are 31 proposed cattle crossings, along with four railway over-bridges, 18 big/small bridges and two parking areas for trucks.

Work on the expressway, which was launched in 2006, was significantly delayed. In July 2015, a sub-committee headed by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar approved the second phase between Kundli and Manesar. The 53km stretch between Palwal and Manesar was inaugurated in April 2016 by Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, after a delay of nearly 10 years.

The state government has given several deadlines for the completion of the Kundli-Manesar portion of the expressway, the latest one being March 31. When completed, the road will traverse several districts, including Sonipat, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Mewat and Palwal.

The expressway is one of the Haryana government’s most significant infrastructure projects. The state government has plans of developing 144 villages along the expressway as ‘Smart’ villages, along with plans for several other projects as part of the industrial corridor.